Perrantes on learning things to help his own game while watching Syracuse point guard Tyler Ennis

Perrantes on learning things to help his own game while watching Syracuse point guard Tyler Ennis

Norm Wood, nwood@dailypress.com

As high school point guards on opposite coasts, London Perrantes and Tyler Ennis never had occasion to cross paths. That's about to change.

On Saturday afternoon, Perrantes will lead No. 12 Virginia (24-5 overall, 15-1 ACC) in Charlottesville against an Ennis-guided Syracuse team. Not only will the game feature two of the nation's best freshman point guards, Perrantes could have a hand in helping U.Va. lock up its second outright ACC regular-season title in school history with a win.

Ennis will try to keep No. 4 Syracuse (26-2, 13-2) in the hunt for an ACC regular-season crown in its first year in the conference.

Perrantes and Ennis didn't get here by accident. They're two of the biggest reasons their respective schools are in this position.

"They seem unflappable," said U.Va. coach Tony Bennett, who earned his 100th victory on the Cavaliers' sideline Wednesday with a 65-40 win against Miami. "You watch them and they have that look. They're just very calm, cool and collected … they seem to play with a level of poise.

"I think Ennis has scored more and done some things … but just that similarity, they let the game come and they don't seem to get sped up in their mind or on the floor. Ennis might be a little longer, a little taller. He's a heck of a player, but I think our point guard's a heck of a player, too."

Perrantes, a 6-foot-2, 189-pound Los Angeles native, isn't the kind of player U.Va. has had to rely on for his scoring ability. His 15-point night against Miami on 5-of-5 shooting, including 4-of-4 from 3-point range, was a rare offensive outburst.

He's averaging 4.8 points per game, shooting 35.6 percent from the floor and he's only scored in double figures three times. His 3.7-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio tells you all you need to know about what kind of player U.Va. has running the show.

Like Perrantes, Ennis values taking care of the ball above all other pursuits. He's fourth in the ACC with a 3.4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, and he punishes opponents that don't protect the ball — leading the conference with 2.1 steals per game.

"Tyler Ennis — his length, his ability, his selflessness, his composure — it's all been infectious and an essential part of their success, but we've got one, too," U.Va. associate head coach Ritchie McKay said. "We really do."

Ennis, who leads the ACC with an average of 5.6 assists per game, has provided a more consistent scoring punch throughout the season than Perrantes. Ennis, a 6-2, 180-pound native of Brampton, Ontario, who graduated from St. Benedict's Prep in Newark, N.J., contributes a steady 12 points per game to go along with his ball-handling and defensive awareness.

Though he's shooting only 41.4 percent from the floor, he's making a solid 36.7 percent from 3-point range, and he's even had a little flare for the dramatic. His 35-foot shot at the buzzer Feb. 12 at No. 25 Pittsburgh helped Syracuse pull out a 58-56 win.

"Some freshmen are different from other freshmen, I guess," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "He was always a steady player in high school, always a point guard, always had good coaching, has always understood the game. So, I think he's a different kind of point guard. Run the team, get the ball to other people first and then look to score second. A lot of point guards today kind of look to score first, and those guys tend to be a little more erratic."

Ennis' game hasn't been lost on Perrantes. As a matter of fact, there's a lot about Ennis in terms of on-court composure Perrantes sees in himself.

"He plays the same way as me, so calm and collected," Perrantes said. "He doesn't get sped up. I think he's just a great floor leader. I feel like we have very similar games."

The 3-point shooting aspect of Perrantes' game is something to watch. After going through a seven-game stretch in which he missed 10 of 12 shots from 3-point range, he's made eight of his last 11 attempts.

"Just do what the defense gives me," Perrantes said. "None of us should do anything overboard. We just work on our offense, take what the defense gives us, and I know that defenses have been leaving me open. So, I've been knocking down shots and making them pay."

With defenses cheating to guard Malcolm Brogdon and Joe Harris — players with far greater reputations as perimeter shooters — Perrantes is starting to take advantage of his chances, according to McKay.

Miami coach Jim Larranaga is the first to admit he and his coaching staff might have overlooked Perrantes' offensive capabilities. How much did the Hurricanes scout Perrantes' perimeter scoring ability?

"Obviously not enough," said Larranaga, who added Perrantes may need to duplicate his 3-point shooting performance against Syracuse because the Orange are so adept at taking away 2-point field goals with the 2-3 zone.

"It's not only that he's averaging four (points). He makes like one three a game, so we were like, 'OK, if we give up a couple 3s to him, that's not the worst thing in the world, as long as it's not Harris and Brogdon absolutely torching us on the perimeter.'"

While Brogdon and Harris and Syracuse's C.J. Fair and Trevor Cooney are certainly bigger threats to post big offensive numbers, Perrantes realizes he and Ennis will be the catalysts for that offense. It's up to Perrantes, whose team is riding a 12-game winning streak, to find ways to one-up his counterpart.

"Every game they play on TV, I like to watch," Perrantes said. "I've been looking at them basically this whole season just trying to figure out ways we can penetrate (the 2-3 zone).

"Watching Tyler Ennis, you can learn from other point guards. I like to do that, especially with other good point guards in the ACC. I have the utmost respect for them and Tyler Ennis, so it should be a crazy atmosphere on Saturday."